Our black labrador knows 'heel', but tends to forget and will start pulling. I have no professional experience and don't personaly think this is a good idea, but you could tape a treat to your side and not let your puppy get it until every time you take it off she'll stay next to you. The reason I don't think this is a good idea is because she will probably get used to having the treat there and will ask for it even when you don't have it which will spoil your walk. If you tell me how to put articles from the internet onto this, then I will get you a few...

Just don't let them get their way! My training with my puppy is far from perfect. I have trouble teaching her to heel. But whenever she acts up when we're outside, I stop walking. I will never give into her pulling around or trying to run ahead. And when she's not pulling and walking at a good pace, I praise her. When I first got her, if she would act up (pull on leash, chew on leash, jump on me, lay on the grass and refuse to move, etc) I will just pick her up and end the walk.

My six month old puppy is in obedience school right now and she walks really good on a leash. I could never train my other dogs not to pull by myself, but once I started obedience school, the tips and lessons helped a ton. I highly recommend taking your dog to classes. It's expensive, but well worth it in headaches you save. Otherwise, I suggest buying a six to eight foot lead, letting them walk as normally, but when they get ahead, turn around and jog the other direction. It'll take a lot at first (you'll be going around in circles!), but after a while you'll notice your dog is paying more attention to you.

have you ever seen that show dog wisperer ? He says to have the color up more on there throat and to shorten your leash...dont focus on the animal to focus on the way you are going...I am going to try it with my new puppy...Hope that helps.

I trained Merphy on a 25 foot leash. I would start walking, and the second he got ahead of me, I would turn and walk the other way. At first I probably looked like an idiot walking back and forth, but soon he learned to follow me and pay attention to what I was doing. Now I walk him on a six foot leash, and I do keep his leash at the top of his neck, and he doesn't even try to pull then.

Yes try the high collar method, where the collar is put high up on the throat and directly behind the ears, and held snug by you.Any pressure put on this area will get your dog's attention, and will get it fast. A decent snap of the leash a few times will teach the dog not to get ahead of you. This is what method is used in the show ring, but for a different reason ( it doesn't distract from the neck )

When I am teaching my dogs to heel with the choke collar I make numerous short walks with turns, with a quick gentle snap on the collar and the word "heel" when I turn. My dogs learn to stay by my side and respond to what I am doing versus pulling or doing their own thing.

In my experience, choke collars are the most ineffective and probably inhumane training tool for dogs. Most people (>90%) don't know how to use them (or even put them on) properly. They only succeed in strangling their poor dog. I don't recommend any training equipment for beginners or for use without the instruction of a dog trainer.

Overall, however, a prong collar is better for training medium-larger breeds (simulates a mother's nip on the neck) but these must be properly fitted and put on or they an be dangerous. Haltis are okay for large breeds, but upward pulling can injure the neck muscles. Harnesses, including anti-pull and anti-jump, are hit and miss so it would depend on the dog. Finally, half-check collars also simulate a nip on the neck and only tighten so far. They're good for toy-small breeds.

In summary, it depends on your needs, your dog, and how experienced you are with various equipment. Poor fitting training collars or those used inappropriate are dangerous. No training collars should be left on the dog when unsupervised. Always have a standard buckle collar with tags on your dog at all times.

as my big puppy grew into a BIGGER puppy and even stronger than ever, I started putting his leash around my waist and holding it with the opposite hand to keep him by my side, I was able to not be knocked off balance and it kept him from trying to walk ahead of me and choke himself, too.

This might not work for a small dog, but it's what worked for me :)

Also, this worked way better than some of the non-choking types of harnesses, etc. Now, he knows to walk next to me, but he still needs to be reminded sometimes.